The World Bank has commended Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State for his management of the state finances.

The Country Director of the World Bank, Mr. Onno Ruhl, made the commendation during the inauguration of the Steering Committee on Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review at the Government House in Benin City.

According to Onno Ruhl, “any major organization like the World Bank that has to finance projects will be telling the world how wonderful the results we have achieved in Edo State are. Our challenge is to keep up with the pace at which you are going and how we can meaningfully help you”.

The World Bank Country Director said, he was impressed that on every job site, there was a profound slogan, “Peoples Tax at Work”, noting that six months ago, when he visited the State, he saw fantastic plans, expressing joy that the plans were being faithfully implemented.

He observed that at the beginning, the people of the State were impatient because they wanted immediate result, saying that, “you have proved that it was better to plan carefully and do quality jobs”.

“When I went to five junction, I saw people in the neighbourhood who never expected the government could come up to fix up the environment and they can now see the impact of development which is going on in the area”, he added.

According to him, “the place is even more impressive than the Kings Square . Though the Kings Square is very important, it is not every government that wants to fix the area where the people live and I saw what really impressed me and my team”.

The Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, while responding, noted that the government started doing something with the available resources to be able to attract support from external bodies.

“We are accountable not only to the people of Edo State , but the entire nation who are waiting to see what Oshiomhole will do in Edo State ,” he said.

While assuring that the government is determined to not disappoint the people of Edo State , Comrade Oshiomhole disclosed that the essence of democracy is to be accountable to the people, adding that this collaboration with the World Bank will be a reference point for future government in the state to build upon.

He therefore urged the members of the committee to take the assignment as a very important challenge.